below the surface of the water (lies the shadows i hide)
by UpAmongTheStars
Summary: "It's not like it's a secret. Fang knows that they have issues, all of them do, but none of them really talk about it properly." - Where Fang finds Boboiboy as Air in the middle of things, and things they should be talking about are finally brought to light. [ based on yoboyyyy's comic on tumblr! ]


Fang is exiting the control room when something blue catches his eye, turning to find Boboiboy staring out the ship. It's not unusual to find his friend doing this, but the fact that he's here, in the middle of the hall with a ball of water, makes Fang pause.

"What are you doing?" he asks. Brown eyes flicker beneath a light blue hat as the other gives him a considering look.

"I'm trying to relax."

"In your water form?"

"Yes." Fang stares, before raising a brow at him.

"Why?"

Instead of an answer, Boboiboy waves a hand to shift a puddle of water under his feet. Fang barely has time to stare at it before it surges upward and actually _lifts _him, pulling a startled sound from his lips. The water settles just before he can actually panic, and he finds himself sitting on top of of an oversized raindrop, blinking at the feel of its cool-and-not-at-all-wet surface.

It's... comfortable.

Very, very comfortable.

"I can see why this is relaxing," he says at length, letting the tension form his shoulders drop.

Boboiboy hums and turns back to the window as he murmurs, "That's not all." Fang shoots him a curious look, so he elaborates.

"It's like... and emotional controller," he says, and for a moment, Fang thinks he sees those eyes turn blue. "It's it easier to stay calm this way. We've been doing the hero thing for a while already, so it doesn't really make me nervous anymore, but sometimes I can't help but think of the worst that could happen and..."

Boboiboy trails off, but Fang knows him enough to finish the thought.

_It helps me think better. It's helps me cope._

"Oh."

It's not like it's a secret. Fang knows that they have issues, all of them do, but none of them really talk about it properly. The system is that they comfort whoever it is that's upset in whatever way they can, then when it comes to the serious things, they all pretty much bottle it up. So Boboiboy talking about this outright is... different. Not bad, but just - new.

"Fang?"

The call of his name snaps him back to the present. "Yeah?"

"What about you?"

_How do you cope?_

"Well..." Fang blinks as he turns the question over in his head. Not that he has to, he already knows his answer, even before Bobobiboy asked the question. "I just think of you guys."

He can feel a smile tug at his lips and doesn't try to fight it. Keeping his gaze outside, he continues, "I never really had friends before, so you guys mean a lot to me. Sai and Shielda - they were more of teammates than anything, before all this, so I... I wasn't unhappy, not really, but it was - lonely."

It was a lot of things, actually, but those first six months he spent on earth had been all but branded in him. For so long, all Fang had wished for was something familiar, something that would ease the empty feeling in his chest and make him feel like he _belonged_.

What he got eventually was better.

"I wasn't planning on befriending you guys. Didn't even want to, at first," Fang murmurs, and he can still recall the way he tried so hard, tried to ignore the pull of companionship that Bobobiboy and the rest seemed to have. "But I'm glad I did. I care a lot about all of you, so I promised myself that whatever happens, I'd protect you guys. I don't want to lose anyone, not when you all gave me so much."

Boboiboy in entirely silent, and Fang realizes that he may have gone a little overboard with that. He huffs.

"I guess it's not really a way of coping," Fang mutters, before he straightens and finally looks his friend in the eye, "But it keeps me going forward."

The grin he offers is small but fond, and Boboiboy blinks at him before tipping his head forward. His face is shadowed, but Fang can hear the smile in his voice when he says, "You're amazing, Fang."

Fang grins wider and crosses his arms, settling back down in his water seat.

"Damn right I am."


End file.
